Coin-freed machine



Sept. 8, 1936. P. s. HARPER COIN FREED MACHINE Filed June 15, 1935 Patented Sept. 8, 1936 UNITED STA-TES' PATENT oFFIcs Application June 1.3; 1935, vSerial No. 26,443

In Great Britain November 9, 1934 3 claims. l (o1. 31a-70) This invention relates to coin-freed mechanism for automatic delivery machines of the kind wherein the articles or packets stored in the machine are deliveredwithout the necessity of 5 manual operations latter insertioniof the coin') through the Amedium of a rotary packet-retaining device disposed laterallyat the foot of the packet chu-te, normally supporting the vv.packet stack, and movable under vescapement vcontrol-v ]0 when a coin has 'been insertedto slide oi and deliver the lowermcst packet. v

In this kind of delivery mechanism the Weight of the stack even upto the weight of the last packet is utilized to effect delivery by gravity l5 when retaining mechanism .has been released by the passage of a coin. The word-packet covers any article which is advantageously of rectangular or square shape in plan and elevation, such as a packet of. cigarettes. In referring to the no Weight of the stack it is -to .be understood that this may be augmented bym-follower weight of any suitable shape or size resting` on topof the stack. The lowerrnost .packet foverhangs 4the supporting pocket in the rotary retaining device,

and'is prevented from tilting and falling into a delivery chute by virtue of' the .pressureof the superimposed stack, distributed uniformly over its upper surface.

According to the said invention the rotary packet-retaining device is constructed with a L series of. circumferentially spaced rods, rollers or equivalents disposed or projecting parallel to its axis of rotation the angular spaces between the radii connecting each pair of adjacent rods respectively constituting a supporting and delivering pocket for a corner of the lowermost packet.

By this construction a comparatively large diameter rotary device is practicable so that the actual supporting rod or the like on which the underneath surface of the lowermost packet rests can be brought out well towards the middle of the column away from the pocketed corner to reduce the amount of overhang. In addition the following up rod abuts the vertical wall of. the pocketed corner from start to finish of the delivery operation. The dimension of the packet portion reposing in the pocket vertically increases, and the Width from the pocketed corner to the underneath support line decreases during delivery movement; the present construction allows this variation to be accommodated whilst continuously retaining the two-point abutment by the adjacent rods of the pocket. Further, when the packets being delivered are of a compressible naturev (e. lg. packets of cigarettes) the construction' according to the invention permits the pocketed corner-to bulge slightly out of the true right'- angle, .which assists greatly in retaining the lowermost packet against accidental or fraudulent 5 delivery. Furthermore; thexoverhanging corner of. the lowermost packet need not necessarily be supported or'guided.

embodiment of the invention is illustrated by Way of example ,in ,the accompanying draw- 10 ing, iwherei'n: 1 v

- Figure 1 Visa sectionalelevation; Y Figure 2 is an outside elevation to show one form of escapement which may be employed;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view shovling'one f5 end viewed-frontwise, of'the rotary-'retaining device'; and

' yFigurell isa View. similar to Figure 3 of a modification. v f

Inthe'dr-awingvthe column in the machine for 'Q0 holding the .stack 'of packets 5 isdesignated i and vthe'delivery'.chute for packetsreleased from said" column is" marked with the reference numeral'2. Therctary retainingdevice as a whole is designated 3, and 4 is a coin-chute leading from any suitable coin: selecting, rejecting and testing'mechanisms, not shown.

TheV delivery chute 2 is bent cr-formed in any suitable way to throw out released packets as may be desired and the device 3, if preferred 30 may be disposed across the front of the column l.

The rotary device 3,`in the form illustrated, consists of end plates 6 jointed together by a suitable number of circumferentially spaced rods or rollers 1 which have a radial clearance from 35 a hub 8. The end plates are rotatably mounted between the side frames or plates 9, and the axis of rotation 3 of the device 3 is approximately in line with the front or rear Wall of the column i, depending upon whether the device 3 is disn 40 posed at the front or the rear of said column. In the example shown the rotary device is disposed below the rear vertical wall of the column I. Its axis is laterally across the column l and suicientlow for the topmost rod 'l to abut the vertical 45 face of the lowermost packet as shown. The radial and circumferential spacing of the rods 1 is in such relation to the size of the packets 5 that whilst one rod occupies the abutting position just described, the adjacent rod in front lies underneath the lowerrnost packet as far along as possible. It is practicable to construct the de- Vice so that this latter rod is located at about the middle of the packet, and so to reduce the over-hang, (represented by the right-hand part of the packet in Figure 1).

The weight of the stack of packets 5 is imposed on the particular rod I for the time being occupying the supporting position beneath the lowermost packet 5. On release of the device 3, by means of a coin dropping down the chute 4 on to the escapement lever I0, the weight of the stack rotates the device 3 by one step under the control of the escapement I I, the lowermost packet is released and the stack again takes up the position illustrated in full lines. It will be noted that the lowermost packet is entirely clear of the back and front of the column I.

The broken lines illustrate three progressive positions of a packet being delivered. Until the device has turned one complete step (the angular distances between adjacent rods 1) the bottom packet 5 is always horizontal and flush with the superimposed packet; the follower rod 'I rides up the vertical face of the packet whilst the underneath rod 1 moves towards the corner A of the packet. On the conclusion of the partial rotation of the device 3 the bottom packet 5 tilts as shown and drops into the chute 2.

'I'he variation of position of the corner A during delivery is allowed for by the open form of pocket constituted by the angular space between adjacent pairs of rods 'I. Further if, by virtue of the compressibility of the packets 5, the rods 'I press into the material of the packets, the corner A will develop a relative bulge out of the true right-angle, and this distortion, is useful in helping to lock the corner A in its pocket. Y

The rods need not extend completely across the device 3. In Figure 4 it will be seen that the end plates 6 each have a set of abbreviated rods, rollers or pegs projecting laterally; those on one disc will be in axial alignment respectively with those on the other disc. The function is exactly the same as in the previous construction, the difference being that the packets 5 are not supported completely from side to side.

I claim:-

1. In a vending machine, a magazine for a stack of articles to be dispensed, said magazine having inner and outer walls, and means for successively dispensing the lowermost of a stack of articles contained in said magazine, said means comprising a spaced pair of axially alined disks mounted below said magazine for rotation about a horizontal axis approximately alined with the inner wall of said magazine, an annular series of equally spaced apart horizontally disposed rods extending between and rigidly connected with said disks for rotation therewith and to be moved successively beneath the successive lowermost articles of the stack, the spacing of said rods being such that when any given rod is disposed beneath the lowermost article of the stack the next succeeding rod is disposed behind said lowermost article to engage and slide the same forwardly over the first mentioned rod as the dispensing means is rotated, and means controlling rotation of said disks and rods to predet emine the number of articles dispensed during each cycle of operation of the machine.

2. In a vending machine, a magazine for a stack of articles to be dispensed, and means for successively dispensing the lowermost of a stack of articles contained in said magazine, said means comprising a disk mounted below said magazine for rotation about a horizontal axis, an annular series of equally spaced apart horizontally disposed rods rigid with said disk for rotation therewith, the axis of rotation of said disk being approximately alined with the inner wall of said magazine so that said rods are movable successively beneath the successive lowermost articles of the stack and the spacing of said rods being such that when any given rod is disposed beneathA the lowermost article of the stack the next succeeding rod is disposed behind said lowermost article to engage and slide the same forwardly over the rst mentioned rod as the dispensing means is rotated, and means controlling rotation of said disk and rods to predetermine the number of articles dispensed during each cycle of operation of the machine.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 2 in which the means controlling rotation of the disk and rods comprises an escapement member cooperating with said rods.

PERCY STEPHEN HARPER. 

